Anschutz and Cussler have been waging a fierce legal battle in a downtown Los Angeles courtroom over who is to blame for the financial failure of the movie “Sahara,” which starred Matthew McConaughey and Penelope Cruz. The film has lost about $105 million since it was released in April 2005. A jury is expected to hand down a verdict in the trial next month.

Cussler is scheduled to take the witness stand for a fourth consecutive day this morning in the courtroom of Judge John P. Shook.

On Friday, Cussler offered myriad explanations for his accounting of the “Sahara” numbers. Asked if he pulled the numbers out of thin air, Cussler said, “Pretty much.” He added: “I honestly thought I probably did sell 100 million books. That doesn’t seem out of the ordinary to me.”

Cussler’s response, made during tense cross-examination testimony, “illustrates that he is perfectly comfortable lying about the number of books he sold,” said Alan Rader, one of several attorneys from the O’Melveny & Myers firm who represent Anschutz. “He was willing to say whatever it took to get the $10 million.”